Hurrian God Pairs Mentioned In Hittite texts: “Nabarbi- Šuṷala” – “Uršui-Iškalli”

Hittites, who established a great civilization in Anatolia around 2000 BC, had a polytheistic belief system. Unique Indo- European gods within Hittite religion and pantheon; gods of Hattian, Luwian and Palaic gods, Hurrian gods, Sumerian and Babylonian gods from Mesopotamia through Hurrians and gods of the ethnic clan of Indo-Aryan origin who were found with Hurrians. From Hittite cuneiform texts, it was found out that Hurrian gods had an important position among pantheon of gods and were sanctified accordingly. There are a large number of Hurrian god pairs in the Hittite pantheon. Goddess Nabarbi, God NIN.URTA’s wife, was mentioned for the first time in the Hittite cuneiform texts dated in the Middle Hittite period. In the Yazılıkaya Temple Goddess Nabarbi was depicted in the relief No 51 and witnessed the Šatti?aza Treaty among both Hittite and Hurrian gods. Šu?ala who was frequently mentioned in connection with the Goddess Nabarbi is of Hurrian origin. Šu?ala and Goddess Nabarbi were sanctified together in the most parts of the text. However, there are also several texts in which those two were sanctified separately. Another god pairs, Iškalli-Uršui were sometimes mentioned in the texts without being determined as god. The name of the god pairs was mentioned quite often on kaluti-lists of Goddess ?ebat. Their names were used after Nabarbi and Šu?ala, and before Šalaš and the Bitin?i. However, their names were mentioned before Bentikalli in Aleppo’s Tešup and ?ebat’s Cult list and after ?ašuntar?i. And their names were mentioned after Adamma and Kubaba in KUB 45.48 (Bo 2951) + KUB 45.71 (Bo 3882).

Keywords

Cuneiform Texts, Hittites, Hurrians, Pantheon, Nabarbi (Nabarbi), Šuṷala (Suwala/Suvala), Uršui (Urs